When you smile, I see spots before my eyes?

ATLANTA (AP) — In a remarkable turnabout, federal health officials say many Americans are now getting too much fluoride because of its presence not just in drinking water but in toothpaste, mouthwash and other products, and it’s causing splotches on children’s teeth and perhaps more serious problems.

The 

The structure of Oxalyl_fluoride

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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced plans Friday to lower the recommended level of fluoride in drinking water for the first time in nearly 50 years, based on a fresh review of the science.

The announcement is likely to renew the battle over fluoridation, even though the addition of fluoride to drinking water is considered one of the greatest public health successes of the 20th century. The U.S. prevalence of decay in at least one tooth among teens has declined from about 90 percent to 60 percent.

The government first began urging municipal water systems to add fluoride in the early 1950s. Since then, it has been put in toothpaste and mouthwash. It is also in a lot of bottled water and in soda. Some kids even take fluoride supplements. Now, young children may be getting too much.

“Like anything else, you can have too much of a good thing,” said Dr. Howard Pollick, a professor at the University of CaliforniaSan Francisco‘s dental school and spokesman for the American Dental Association.


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Elise Sarvas, D.D.S., M.S.D., M.P.H. and Jeffrey M. Karp, D.M.D., M.S., AAP News

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